Willis H. Flygare (July 24, 1936 – May 18, 1981) was an American physical chemist and professor at University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign.National Academies Press, Biographical Memoirs, Willis H. Flygare, By David ChandlerChemistry at Illinois, Flygare Memorial Lectures, About Willis H. Flygare
Background Flygare was born in Jackson, Minnesota. He was the son of Willis B. and Doris H. Flygare, both of whom were of Scandinavian descent. He attended St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, from which he graduated in 1958 with majors in chemistry, physics, and mathematics. He later attended graduate school at the University of California, Berkeley, earning his Ph.D. in chemistry in 1961.
Career Flygare became a professor of chemistry at the University of Illinois in 1961 and stayed in that position until his premature death at age 44 of Lou Gehrig disease. Flygare is credited with "outstanding contributions to the understanding of molecular electronic structure".
He invented a highly sensitive pulsed-beam, Fourier-transform microwave spectrometer.
He also developed a new method based on the molecular Zeeman effect for measurements of molecular quadrupole moments and magnetic susceptibility anisotropies.
He received Irving Langmuir Award in 1981.
Flygare was a member of the National Academy of Sciences.
The University of Illinois established lectures in his name and a memorial fund.The Department of Chemistry at the University of Illinois, The Willis H. Flygare Memorial Fund
Awards and distinctions Guggenheim Fellowships in 1972 and 1978 Phi Lambda Upsilon Fresenius Award in 1971Phi Lambda Upsilon:Award Recipients Baekeland Medal in 1973 Irving Langmuir Award in 1981 elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1974 honorary doctorate from St. Olaf College in 1976
References
External links David Chandler, "Willis H. Flygare", Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences (2005)